Corner-rail fastener for bedsteads



Jan. 6'

C. S. MOECKEL CORNER RAIL FASTENER FOR BEDSTEADS Filed July 5. 1922Patented Jan. 6, 1925..

TES

PATENT CLARENCE S. MOECKEL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, -ASSIGNOR TO SOUTHERNSPRING BED COMPANY, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, A CORPORATION OF GEORGIA.

CORNER-RAIL FASTENEB r03 BEDS'TEADS.

Application filed July 5, 1922. Serial No, 572,803.

I 0 all whom it may concern 1.:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE S. Monoknn, a citizen of the U nitedStates, and a resident of Atlanta, Fulton County, State of Georgia, haveinvented certain new and useful Imgil'ovcments in Corner-Rail Fastenersfor Bedsteads, of which the following is specification.

This invention relates to means for connectingtogether the ends of metalside and end rails of bedsteads and for connecting them to the bedpost-sat the corners and is adapted for use with bedsteads of various kinds,whether made of wood or metal. It is designed and intended to produceand does in practice produce such a. strong and rigid and properlydistributed contact connection be tween the side rails and the cornerbrackets at the bedpost as to prevent all possibility of longitudinalswaying of the head and foot of the bedstead in reference to the siderails and also such as will prevent any lateral distortion ordisarrangement'of the angular relations of the side and end rails whenside pressure is applied at one end of the bed to move it laterally. Italso prevents rotary movement of the side rails when in position. Itthus produces a very rigid bedstead structure where there is no lostmotion todevelop wear and breakage but on the contrary where the partsare so constructed and arranged that any added weight on the bedautomatically makes the connections tighter and more rigid. Thestructure furthermore is very simple'indeed and easily and cheaply madeand may be applied to various kinds of bed steads now in use. The novelfeatures will be more fully understood from the following descriptionand claims taken with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

' Figure 1 is a perspective view of a corner bracket embodying thepresent invention. in place on the bedpost, the post and the side railbeing partly broken away;

Figure 2 is a side view looking from the left in Figure 1; and,

Figure 3 is a plan view lookingdownv on the bracket. and side rail.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing for the purposeof illustration, 10 represents the ordinary bedpost and 11 represents abracket adapted to be secured to that or any other bedpost. This bracket11 in, the form shown is l sshaped in cross:

section having the vertically elongated flange i flange 12 except thatat the corner on the outer side where the flange 12 is joined it is ofdouble thickness as at 16, forming a shoulder 17 on the outer sidefacing outward from the bedpost. The thin flange or hook member has aslot 18 formed in it from its upper end a short distance outward fromthe shoulder 17 and forming the finger 19 at its outer edge having arounded or inclined topportion 20 which is preferably below the upperedge of the hook member where it oins the flange 12 which is secured tothe bedpost. The edge 21 of the finger 19 which faces the bedpost is ata slight incline from the upper end towards the lower end being thenearest to the bedpost at the lower end. I

The side rail 22 is L-shaped in section with the flange 23 horizontalinuse and the flange 24 vertical. The flange 23 is preferably made ofdouble thickness from the line 25 to the end and there is integraltherewith in line with the flange 24, the upwardly projecting flange 26which is of substantially the samewidth as the flange 24 and ofthe samethickness so that the result is that the end portion of this side rail22 is T-shaped in section with the stem of the T in a horizontalposition in use. The end of the flange 23 of the side rail 22 is cutaway in next to the flange 24 at 27 on the arc of a circle and at theinner end of this are there is a notch or groove 28 extending forwardlywith one edge in the plane of the inner face of the flanges 24 and 26and of such width as to fit the edge portion 29 of the hook member 15 atthe rear of the slot 18. A slot 30 is also formed in the flange 23 ofthe side railin the part of double thickness with one of its side wallsin the plane of the inner surfaces of the flanges 24 and 26 and having awidth great enough to receive and closely fit the finger 19. The lengthof this slot is somewhat greater than the breadth of the finger v 19longitudinally of the side rail. The ends of the vertical flanges 24 and2 Qf t d rail 22 terminate in the same vertical plane at right angles tothe longitudinal lines of the side bar and the end 81 of the flange 23terminates on a parallel plane beyond the ends of flanges 24 and 26 adistance equal to that which the face of the flange 12 is beyond theshoulder 17 longitudinal of the side bar. The end 33 of slot 30 againstwhich the inclined face 21 of finger 19 bears is at such distance fromthe end 31 and from the ends of the side flanges 24 and 26 that when itis in contact with finger 19, as shown in Figure 1, the end 31 will makeend contact with the face of plate 12 and the edges of flanges 24 and 26will be in contact with the shoulder 17.

It will be understood from what has been said as to the constructionthat the side rail when in the position shown in Figure 1 may be raisedvertically so that it will move upwardly off finger 19 and its endsmoving along shoulder 17 and plate 12 until the slot 30 is disengagedfrom the finger when the parts are completely separated. Since thefinger 19 closely fits the slot 30 and extends on both sides of flange23 close against the faces of the flanges 2A and 26 it makes a strongconnection for holding the side rail in proper upright position and thisis greatly increased by the end of the flanges 24: and 26 engaging theside of the flange 15 at the shoulder. The most important function andadvantage of the construction however is that a mere down movement "ofthe side rail on the bracket by the action of the inclined edge of thefinger 19 on the edge 33 of the slot in the side rail forces the siderail longitudinally;

bringing the end 31 into tight contact with the face of the flange 12and the end edges of the flanges 2 1 and 26 in tight contact with theshoulder 17 throughout its length which is double that of the normalside rail L-shaped in section as shown. This gives a very rigidconstruction which prevents all looseness and wear. It will be notedfurthermore that the structural features are very simple, being largelyL-shaped sections of metal.

Although one specific embodiment of the invention is shown for thepurpose of illustration, it will be understood that it is not limited tothat form beyond what is called for in the claims.

Having thus described the invention whatis claimed as new and desired tobe secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described com prising in combination a bracketL-shaped in section one flange being adapted to be attached verticallyto a bed post and the other having an extra thickness of metal on theouter side from the angle a short towards it, aside rai distanceoutwardly forming a vertical shoulder and a vertical slot outwardlybeyond said shoulder forming a flat finger having its edge facing theother flange inclined towards it from the top, a side rail L-shaped incross section having in its horizontal flange an end slot next to thevertical flange to receive the edge of the bracket flange beyond thevertical slot and a slot to receive and laterally fit the finger andbear against its inclined surface, the end of the slot in contact withthe finger being at such distance from the ends of the flanges of saidside rail that they will abut the shoulder and flange surface of thevertical bracket with a Wedging action.

2. A device of the class described comprising in combination a bracketL-shaped in section one flange being adapted to be attached verticallyto a bed post and the other having an extra thickness of metal on theouter side from the angle a short distance outwardly forming a verticalshoulder and a vertical slot outwardly beyond said shoulder forming aflat finger having its edge facing the other flange inclined towards itfrom the top, a side rail L-shaped in cross section throughout most ofits length but having an end portion T-shaped in section with the stemof the T horizontal and extending beyond the ends of the T flanges witha groove next to those flanges at the end adapted to receive the edge ofthe bracket flange and a slot to receive its finger at such distancefrom the end that its downward movement on that finger in close contactwith the facing surfaces of the T flanges will by a wedging action forcethe ends of said flanges tightly against said shoulder and the end ofthe stem against the facing surface of the bracket flange.

3. A device of the class described comprising in combination a bracketadapted to be secured to a bedpost, a thin vertical member projectingtherefrom at one edge having a rib forming a vertically extendingshoulder on the outer side near the base of said member and a verticallyextending slot from the top forming a thin finger with its edge facinthe bracket inclined 'l having an end portion T shaped in cross sectionwith the stem of the T horizontal and having an end groove and alignedslot at the flanges to receive the edge of the bracket flange and fingerwith the ends of the T flanges in contact with said shoulder and the endof the stem flange in contact with the facing surface of the bracket.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

